When I was a fifth grader, my father would make a weekly trek to my school to teach my class the history of each of the past U.S. presidents. Even now, I love reading and learning trivia about our present and former commander-in-chiefs.

In honor of President’s Day this month, I thought it would be fun to share some interesting tidbits about various presidents and their favorite foods.

In my mind, when I think of George Washington, the next thought is always something to do with cherry trees and cherry pies. In fact, he was a great lover of ice cream and often served ice cream at presidential Thursday night dinners. Martha, the wife of the former 1st president, was a wonderful cook and even wrote her own cookbook. He is said to have favored her fancy cakes.

Thomas Jefferson was a lover of fine foods and drinks. Back in his day, he was known for being a gourmet and introduced many foods to this country from his travels abroad.

He had a spectacular, prolific garden at Monticello and was said to be the first to grow sweet potatoes and tomatoes in the newly formed U.S.A. He was very fond of vegetables and grew over 300 varieties of various veggies and herbs. You can read more about Jefferson and his love of food here, buy a cookbook with his family’s heirloom recipes here. Chester Arthur was a close second to Jefferson when it came to epicures in the White House.

John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams were known for their gardens and fruit orchards. You can check out pictures and articles here and here about the Obama White House vegetable garden. Andrew Jackson and Hillary Clinton were other residents of the White House who enjoyed gardening.

Other former presidents became famous for their avid likes and dislikes of certain foods. Most of us may remember hearing George H.W. Bush proclaim his disdain for broccoli and Bill Clinton’s love of Big Macs.

For a fun twist to an otherwise uncelebrated holiday, it would be fun to include some of these menu items in your President’s Day meal plans and incite some interesting conversation on U.S. History. (I’m married to a librarian, so this is totally our sort of thing!)